1. Field of the Invention
This present invention relates to devices for supporting growing plants and, more particularly, a structure and support system for plants.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
It is known that many plants, especially climbing and vining plants, show improved growth when they are supported off the earth. It is desirable to support certain plants off the earth to keep them clean and safe from animals and diseases. Because of the temporary nature of the growing season in some areas, the requirements of crop rotation for the health of plants, and the harsh winter conditions in some areas, it is advantageous to have structures that are easy to assemble, disassemble, store and move. Simpler structures tend to cost less, which is an advantage to the home gardener and commercial gardener alike. Easy access to the growing plants and their produce is important.
There are many structures and systems for the support of plants. The various combinations of poles, slats, cords and wires, as well as metal, concrete and wood structures are currently in use. Most of these are not designed with the possibility of installing them and then adding support after the plant has grown. Support systems for plants sometimes comprise numerous components, which makes assembly difficult and time consuming. They may involve parts that are attached, and parts that are not malleable and need to be attached after they are placed in the soil. Most systems contain multiple parts and are vulnerable to weather, rust (if metal) and other damage especially at the joints. Damage and wear is also caused by stress and movement to plant support systems during assembly, disassembly, while the plants are being tended, and while produce is being harvested. Plant supports that are soldered can break at the joints and may be rendered useless after a few seasons use. Many plant support structures have two or more connected sections that need to be placed in the soil a particular distance from one another. This creates a problem. Some are shaped in a particular way to require their placement in the soil in a specific way. The gardener must adjust their planting plan to the shape of the plant support structure. Many of these support systems require that two or more of their parts, usually the stake section, are put into the soil at once, which is difficult to accomplish and puts stress on the structure as a whole, sometimes throwing it askew, and possibly frustrating the gardener.
While there are many designs that adequately support plants, many have disadvantages that reduce their usefulness by being complicated, cumbersome, unattractive for home use, difficult to assemble and disassemble, difficult to store, expensive to produce, and of limited design flexibility that does not allow for individual creative use.
The tomato plant support described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,068 entitled “Support For A Tomato Plant” to Tepper, is confined to the use of plural upright members in surrounding relation about the plant with lateral members extending from the upright members. These lateral members, which are connected to the vertical member, can be broken during storage and use. Although the tomato plant support allows growth of the plant without manually moving the vine as it grows, mechanical and manual harvesting of the tomato is difficult. As the tomato plant grows the tomato can become entangled within the support structure and the vines of the tomato plant making disassembly difficult. This support does not allow for adding supports if the plant grows lengthy vines, which may extend far outward of the original intended space, and is likely in many varieties of tomato. Some plants may not grow as well as anticipated and may need to be removed to make way for healthier ones. Removal and replanting without doing damage to the new plant would be difficult with this system, as the support blocks access from all sides. This support needs to be installed early on. Many gardeners do not install their support systems on time. They plant and then when the plant is falling over they rush in to add support systems. This system cannot be used at this late time. The lateral members of this support will break the branches of the tomato plant and if there are tomatoes on the vine they will be likely to be damaged too.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,951 shows a cage-like structure that may be expensive to produce, and is likely to be difficult to disassemble when vines have entwined themselves around it. Installing it in the soil appears to require coordination, because the posts have to be placed all at once, and harvesting seems like it could be inconvenient because it does not provide adequate space to reach through. Plant and produce damage may result during harvest. This system does not address climbing plants such as beans and peas. Gardeners will have to purchase another system if they are growing beans. They will have to purchase and separately store and organize multiple systems for different varieties of fruit and vegetables planted.
The trellis described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,245 B1 entitled “Versatile Trellis Kit” to Summers, is confined to a T-shaped support structure with hooks for hanging a net. While the trellis supports plants off the ground, the vertical structure is difficult to assemble. In Northern areas, when the growing season is over, plant support structures, especially those with netting, may need to be disassembled before snows and ice storms do damage to them. One of the more difficult aspects of disassembling a plant support structure is separating the plant, whose vines have wound around the structure, in this case the netting, from the structure. This is a time consuming process which may lead to damage to the netting, as plant vines are strong. When cutting the vines away from the netting, there is a risk that the netting may accidentally be cut also. This structure needs to be assembled before the plants have grown to a height in which the support is needed. Many gardeners, especially beginning gardeners, do not install proper support early enough. They wait for the plant to grow first. This support will be of no use to them.
The support system described in U.S. Pat. Application No. 20040093972 is useful for separating fruit from vines, but does not address the difficulty of having to reach under the canopy created by the angle member in order to gather fruit. Because the top section of the structure is closer to the person harvesting the fruit, the person must crouch down and reach underneath it to access fruit growing closer to the ground. This may tire people out and cause back and knee strain, especially in larger planting areas and farms. This support system does not address the angle of the sun in relation to the growing fruit and vegetables. When the sun goes overhead, then passes the zenith, it shines on the other side of the plant. In this patent, leaves are separated from the vegetable and fruit, and adequate shade may not be provided for part of the day. This could adversely affect growth and taste of the produce. This system does not address the whole range of plants including flowers.
The plant support described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,428 consists of a multipart structure that supports netting. These kinds of structures, while useful for plant growth during the season, have a few problems associated with them. The first is that they are a particular size and shape, and require the planting area to be that size and shape. For instance they do not accommodate curved, angled and small planting area spaces. Secondly, assembly and disassembly is time consuming. It is disadvantageous to be using a costly product such as netting, which may be accidentally cut and damaged, during the tedious removal of vines during and after the growing season. Thirdly, if the plant does not grow such that it leans against the structure, if it grows away from the structure, additional support is needed and cannot be easily added because access to the produce will be impeded by the plant support.
The vine support described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,434,883 B1 entitled “Vine Support With Snap-in Cross Arm” to Hilmar, consists of a vertical stake with a slotted aperture and cross arm, wherein wire is carried by the cross arm to support the vine. Although the vine support structure is less labor intensive to install at the farm site over the prior art, its assembly requires a lot of pieces to snap-fit together. This structure is complicated to assemble. Over time the snap-fit connections become loose and eventually the snap-fit connections will fail. Consequently, the vine support structure cannot withstand mechanical and manual harvesting over long periods of time.
The support structure in U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,477 entitled “Modular Plant Support and Irrigation System” to Dean, is confined to a structure with interlocking tubes, connectors and planar hubs forming a module. Although the structure is aesthetically pleasing with different architectural designs, the structure does not allow for mechanical and manual harvesting of free hanging fruits and vegetables. The interlocking tubes, connectors and planar hubs, along with the various architectural designs make the structure difficult and time consuming to assemble and disassemble. Planting areas are of many sizes and shapes and slopes. Some planting areas are on a hill. A structure like this would require flat ground and a particular amount of space, which limits it usefulness.
Finally, it would also be advantageous to make such a support that was ornamental in design. This structure is unnatural looking. Many home gardeners prefer the planting area to be aesthetically pleasing rather than to look like a factory.